Surprising teams set to play on Day 1

Kentucky has won more SEC titles than all the other league schools combined. LSU made it to the Final Four a year ago. Alabama spent a good chunk of the season ranked in the Top 10.

So, why were these teams practicing at the Georgia Dome on Wednesday, getting ready to play in the opening round of the league tournament?

It's been that kind of year in the SEC, where the balance of power shifted from month to month, week to week, day to day.

When everything settled, defending national champion Florida was about the only team that followed the script. The Gators won the conference in a runaway and have a first-round bye in the tournament.

But no one could have forecast the other three teams that earned an extra day of rest - Vanderbilt, Mississippi and Mississippi State.

"Certainly, you don't want to be playing on the first day," said embattled Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, whose team will be trying to win its 26th tournament title.

LSU certainly didn't expect to go from Final Four to last in the SEC West. But the Tigers managed only five wins in the conference.

"I'm not one to throw out cream puffs and say everything is Pollyanna and everything's Christmas, because it's not," coach John Brady said. "We know that unmet expectations is a terrible place to be. I take responsibility for that, and our team does to a degree. We've got a chance here to maybe get something back. That's how we're approaching this thing."

Alabama got as high as No. 4 in The Associated Press rankings early in the season, but the Crimson Tide were plagued by injuries and struggled to a losing record in the SEC.

Even with 20 wins overall, this team needs at least one and probably two victories in the tournament just to be considered for an NCAA bid.

"It's a new season," coach Mark Gottfried said. "Regardless of what's happened prior to now, everybody has a fresh start."

The other four teams will be waiting Friday in the quarterfinals. Sixth-ranked Florida (26-5, 13-3) and Vanderbilt (20-10, 10-6) finished 1-2 in the East, while Mississippi State (17-12, 8-8) and Ole Miss (19-11, 8-8) were the top two teams out West.

Georgia coach Dennis Felton said he's not surprised to be opening on the same day as Kentucky.

"There was a time when Kentucky was the only school in the conference that really invested in men's basketball," he said. "Over the past 20 years, it's really evolved. The SEC has had so much success as a conference in raising revenue that we've been able to really invest in our entire athletic departments.